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In order to achieve your best investment, buy a wine young
and let it age. Watch for a good vintage and purchase bottles
when they are first released (and are less expensive) and
lay them down in your cellar until they mature. Wines should
never be stored in a refrigerator, since refrigerators are
designed for cold, short-term storage. Refrigerators tend
to vary in degrees, while the compressors switch on and
off during the day. The most important issue in storing
your wine is consistency of temperature. Frequent and constant
temperature and changes of plus or minus 10 degrees in a
24 hour period, can ruin wines.
White wines come in many different styles, weights and
tastes profiles. Some wines are meant to be consumed right
away, while others can be consumed up to four years of the
vintage year. While others, if properly stored, can last
for 10, 20, and 30 and up to 50 years. Rule of thumb, it's
always best to drink a white wine when it's a little
too young, than when it's past it's prime.
Wines should always be stored on their sides, keeping sediment
settled and seals visible. Bottles stored upright can result
in air contamination from corks drying out, shrinking and
losing their seal. Bottle stored cork side down, allows
unwanted sediment to collect on the cork. If you enjoy wines
regularly, beginning a cellar collection is a natural progression.
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